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Brand new member, and brand new Whaler owner - haven't even picked it up yet. It's a 1979 13' that we'll be using as our tender .We live on a 52' trawler.

I know they all came with lifting / ski pulling eyes, and I know people lift them all the time, but what hardware do I need for that? We'll be lifting with a crane, so a single lifting point. On our current dinghy (an 11' inflatable), we have a bridle of stainless cable, consisting of three lengths of cable that come together at a large SS ring. Two of the cables go to the stern lifting eyes, one to the bow eye, and the crane lifts from the central ring. We made the cable lengths such that the weight is pretty much evenly distributed fore and aft.

I'm sure we COULD do the same thing with the 13' BW, but is that the best way to do it? I've heard / read about using something called a strongback that's a straight, solid piece maybe several feet long, in place of a central ring, used to make the lifting force be more vertical on each of the lifting eyes. Is that necessary? Is it better?

Finally, what about using nylon webbing instead of SS cable? Way easier to store, and no chance of corrosion (except for the hooks and ring, which are easy to get completely clean of salt water.)

I've searched the forums, and I found one member's posting of the dimensions for a 3-point bridle, and even that was just his best guess. I also found the factory manual page that said that either approach is OK. So maybe what I'm really looking for is input from people who have used one or more of these methods. Thanks!